Awhile back there was a letter complaining of a lack of news from [some sections of the U.S.] in Stars and Stripes ("Where’s news from Southeast?," Nov. 10). The letter was correct. I’ve counted the number of news stories from the South in your newspaper from Dec. 18 through Dec. 24/25 (I didn’t count Dec. 21, since we couldn’t find it here). In this period you’ve carried 20 stories from Texas, 13 from California, 11 from Hawaii and only eight combined from North Carolina, South Carolina, Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky, Georgia, Alabama, Arkansas, Virginia, Louisiana and Florida. And of the Southern stories you did carry, most of those were from Virginia, Louisiana (Hurricane Katrina-related) and Florida (frankly, not part of the South).

While we know you have a huge demand for stories on Hawaiian subdivision disputes, it may surprise you to learn that we’ve had public education in the South for some years, and thus most of us can read. We even have big cities and a couple of military bases as well. Why, we might like reading about our home states, too, while resting between our moonshine-soaked knife fights and seducing our first cousins.

C’mon, guys, how ’bout a little Southern love now and again?

Petty Officer 2nd Class John CumminsKandahar Air Field, Afghanistan